


Droplets

by hawkeblocke



Category: Free!
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M, Mentions of self-harm, Nothing explicit, little bit of angst because why not
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-31
Updated: 2014-05-31
Packaged: 2018-01-27 19:41:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1720250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hawkeblocke/pseuds/hawkeblocke
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Little ficlets revolving around two captains because why not the ship's already set sail.</p><p>Ambiguous timeline. I'll probably jump around a lot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Droplets

**Author's Note:**

> There isn't really anything explicit but there is mentions of self harm so if anyone is uncomfortable with that you don't have to read it. I'm just putting it out there.

Alternatively Titled: Makoto Tachibana is one amazingly strong motherfucker and should not be trifled with.

Mikoshiba doesn't ask about the scars, faded against the paler skin of Makoto's thighs when he glimpses them in the locker room. Just out of place enough to catch his notice as the other boy changes next to him. He doesn't ask, because he doesn't have to.

Suddenly the smile the Iwatobi captain gives him seems a little forced, like its a practiced gesture, hollow in ways that pulls at his chest. He won't ask, because it isn't the place, and when the green eyed boy fixes him with a look that tells him all he needs to know, Seijuurou nods. 

He can't say that they're particularly unsettling, no, not when they're so obviously many things and Makoto himself didn't seem all that taken aback or uncomfortable about his noticing (despite the sheet of ground rules they had laid out at the beginning of their relationship, they had both gotten used to lingering glances in the locker room and stolen moments in the showers after practice), and so the redhead comes to the conclusion that Makoto himself has at least come to terms with it. Maybe it's the fact that they're _there_ that leaves him able to think of little else until he's being lead to his dorm after everyone's dispersed.

It isn't the first time Makoto's been in his room but he doesn't go to make himself comfortable on the bed, simply opting to slide to the floor and lean against the wall. He curls his legs up to drape long arms over his knees and after a while of silence Seijuurou follows suit, sinking against the door, hands in his lap.

Makoto fixes him with a smile (always smiling, but now that thought won't leave him, and he wonders if it reaches his eyes). "I'm not ashamed," the brunet says simply, and Sei realizes the expression he had mistaken for hollow was, in actuality, open and warm.

He shouldn't be as surprised as he is at the realization, Makoto has been nothing but giving in everything he did. To the point where he wonders if his boyfriend ever did anything for himself.

But he is surprised and so all he can really do is nod, feeling oddly subdued as he waits for Makoto to continue. Sei leans his head back against the door, willing the heaviness in his chest to go away because _God_ , the thought of Makoto being anything but happy is a sad and depressing thought and he's yet to hear of a person cutting themselves because they're _happy_.

"I just," Makoto runs a hand through his hair, pulling the bangs up and out of his face to give Sei a clear look of his furrowed brow as he looks off to the side, gathering his thoughts. He wants to kiss the creases that those furrows make, until they're gone, but the other boy is speaking before he can even think that would be a good course of action (but he reassures himself that it wouldn't be a bad one, in any case.) "I didn't like feeling alone," he murmurs quietly, but the crease in his brow is still there, like he's unsure if that's a reasonable explanation.

Sei wants to tell him that he doesn't have to explain at all, that it's in the past and that he'll understand, because some part of him does with what little he did say. It doesn't take much for the redhead to put the puzzle pieces where they belong.

The air around them is heavy so Sei scoots closer so that he can feel the heat come off the green-eyed boy's body. Makoto doesn't wait for an invitation to lean against him, his head coming to rest on his shoulder and Sei leans into the contact.

Eventually Makoto drops his knees, stretching his legs out in front of him, the fingers of one hand searching Sei's and then tangling with them. The Samezuka captain gives them a reassuring squeeze, not trusting his words to work around the lump that continues to build up in his throat.

"Whenever I felt alone, I was empty, and that's what I hated the most. I hated feeling empty, and somehow the cutting made the emptiness go away." There isn't any sadness in the way he says it, but Sei can't help but run a soothing thumb across the knuckles of Makoto's hand. He can hear the smile in his next words. "Eventually I realized that I wasn't alone. Swimming with Haru helped."

He used to be incredibly jealous of Nanase, of the closeness that he and Makoto shared. Seijurou can't say he's ever been more relieved to hear the other boy's name from his boyfriend's lips. The redhead doesn't stop the smile that spreads on his own as a result.

They sit in silence, but it isn't the kind that makes him want to fidget so Sei is content enough to stay there, hand in hand, for the time being.

"You're amazing, you know that?" He doesn't know what prompts him to say it, but it's out there and he doesn't regret it so when Makoto sits up to look at him he doesn't stop him. He doesn't like the surprise that's on the other boy's face, like Makoto doesn't actually _know_ how much he is to everyone he meets.

Sei manages to put on a smile, feeling something tighten his chest to makes him want to pull the brunet into his arms and never let go. He doesn't resist the impulse and Makoto lets him. "Absolutely amazing."

Eventually Makoto has to go home, but until then Sei makes sure he knows how incredible he is and hopes (he admits jokingly, and it's enough to lighten the mood around them) that it doesn't go to his head.

**Author's Note:**

> So this is actually just a little head canon on mine that our favorite Iwatobi captain isn't, or at least wasn't, always happy as he seems. Then again I've always had a soft spot for people/characters who smile through everything when they may as well be curled up in a blanket suffering from internal torment.  
> Not that I would ever do that to my babies.
> 
> Seriously though Makoto deserves like, all the hugs.


End file.
